CLASSIFICATION BY HOMOGENEITY

HOMOGENOUS DE
An linear Ordinary Differential Equation of n th-order is said to be homogenous if it is of the form
an ( x) y
(n)

an 1 ( x) y

( n 1)

... a1 ( x) y a0 ( x) y g ( x)
'

where g ( x) 0

where y ' dy / dx. All terms are proportional to a derivative of y (or y itself) and there is no term that contains a function of x alone.
Example: d4y d2y 2 y 0 4 2 dx dx

NON-HOMOGENOUS DE
an ( x) y ( n ) an 1 ( x) y ( n 1) ... a1 ( x) y ' a0 ( x) y g ( x) where g ( x) 0

Non-homogenous differential equation are the same as homogenous differential equation except they can have terms involving only x (and constants) on the right side.

For example: d y d y 2 y 6x 3 4 2 dx dx
4 2